Has anyone attended any of the seminars at the Bill Good HQ? Any feedback?

I have just started doing some work for a team that uses the BG System heavily and they floated the idea of going out there for me to get a better understanding of the system, etc.

There is also a 2 day cold calling seminar which I would attend too.

Right now we are all just kicking my going to UT around but it does look like a great way for me to get upto speed with the system and to really polish up my cold calling skills, list management, etc.
Cost is an issue but we are looking into ways around that be it a shared type of cost or wholesalers, etc.

my partner and I went out last summer for the training. It was critical for us to see how it worked and the best way to utilise the features. Theres no way I could have figured it out on my own, by just doing the online stuff.

Our two assts. have spent almost a year trying to get it down--one has a fairly good grasp and the other fights is every day. Neither of them were able to go to Salt Lake.
I would definitely go, if you can. Its a good experience--no pun intended--and you'll learn some valuable stuff outside of the gorrilla training, just from listenting to him talk.

Years ago, before many of you were born, Bill Good's only product was a cold calling seminar that he and his team delivered onsite to brokerage firms. If you've never heard the story about how he developed his cold calling course and how he developed his current system I assure you it is fascinating. Especially considering his mark on the business. He created cold calling in our business as it is known today and how it has been known for the past three decades.

My firm brought Bill in during my training period, just after i had passsed the 7/63 and just before i was able to start calling. It was perfect timing. My first month, using his system, I opened 6 accounts. Second month 19 accounts, third month 29 accounts and so it went. I went from being dead last in my training class of 101 to second. I never could be beat the kid who's father-in law was the CEO of a major NYSE listed oil company. But i came close.
I liked the course so much that I took it four times over the next ten years. I learned more each time. Bill's first book covers a lot of what is taught in that course.
Another guy i learned a lot from was a guy named Bill Tennison. Bill passed away a few years ago. But he is on tape/CD with Bill Good. Tennison's cold call was so simple that i thought i must be missing something. Nope! He practiced what was known as the the 30 second cold call. Call'em ask'em to buy. Fall back was to take info on what they buy, find it, call'em and close. Do that 50 times a day and you're gonna sell something. It was that simple. I used a combo of the two techniques to build my book to what it is today. If you can find anything Bill Tennison, worth the time and the money.
Another Tennison deciple is a guy named Rick Desoto, a 3 mill plus muni guy from Charlotte. Desoto is also on CD from a BG conference in the early nineties. His call is Tennison's exactly. If you can't find Tennison maybe you can find Desoto.
Does this stuff work? Let me tell you this way: I first heard Desoto's version of Bill tennison, who by the way he gives much credit to for his success, in 1992. Fast forward eleven years to the beginning of 2003. Desoto and i worked for the same firm at the time, UBS. UBS brought Rick on to do a weekly firm wide broadcast sales call. Rick pressented to the troops what he was doing. In 2003 he was doing exactly what he had been doing in 1992. Only difference is his gross had tripled. If it ain't broke... well you know the rest.
So, yeah ,i'd say i learned something.

Thanks guys! You would be extremely unimpressed. Many here work much harder than I. For example, here it is 11am, and i’m screwing around on the internet, totally unmotivated, trapped in the office on a fine summer day by client appointments set for later in the day and tonite. Uggg!

So, I'm human.
I too wanted to watch others work. I have to say when I did that it didn't do much. A lot of what happens is incorporated in one's personal style and energy, which is not clonable.
Instead i invested my learning time in tapes and CDs of successful producers. I spent thousands of dollars with Bill Good. His seminar, his tapes and cds and his other courses. I cherry picked the clonable info to come up with a program i could live with.
If Bill offers any CDs from his Gorilla conferences from the nineties, more the early nineties, they would be worth buying. Each set contains about 10 guest speakers. Usually one or two speakers stand out and make the time and money spent a worthy investment. Cds of Bill's talks arer also worth the money. Bill offered a course "Pick the Cherries, not the pits" that would be worth the money if still available.
The guest speakers hit on every subject from cold calling to building a managed money fee biz. The speakers I picked out as exceptional would be a different list than many of you would pick. My top picks from the Bill Good Gorilla conferences are:
Bill Tennison
Rick Desoto
Lloyd Williams
Harry Pappas
Another guy who is a standout is Nadav Baum. I don't know if Baum is on Bill Good?
BG may or may not have these tapes CDs available.
Bills' first book is still out there. Worth the money.
Guys, listening to these tapes and working my butt off is how i did it. If it worked for me it can work for you.

Squash, can i come and watch your friend worK? Seriously, those are some great numbers. If you’re looking to absorb some positive waves paying him a visit sounds like a day well spent.

$400 bucks? Too much? What, you thought they'd be free?
I'd see who was on the tapes/CDs and then decide. But for anyone on my list, to me, worth the money.
As I've said, i've spent tens of thousands of dollars on my business. Most of it wasted. But i'd spend every dime again and will continue to do so in the future because you never know. You never know what's gonna hit you, or what's gonna motivate you.
I'll tell you a story. A friend of mine handed me a Bill Good Tape and said "Listen to this and let me know what you think." He hounded me for weeks to listen to the tape and i finally did. That tape changed my life. It was Bill Tennison speaking at one of Bill Good's marketing conferences. Clear, easy to understand, no holds barred "I'm a two million dollar producer, this what i do, and this is how i do it." Right down to the scripts he used.
At the time my business was down, way down. I was going to have to reinvent myself or find another way to make a living. Both my friend and i were excited about the tape and decided to go full force into selling munis, which is what tennison described. For me it was a return trip after having drifted around for several years. As it turned out Bill Good had teamed with Tennison to produce a "Master Class" revolving around Tennison's muni bond sales process. The complete business plan in a box, as i later called it. It cost $1500. We both ordered and got our boxes. My friend never opened his. He later sold it to another broker in the office. My box changed my life. I've made millions of dollars using what i got out of that box.
I tell you that to tell you this: when it comes to sales training/motivational materials, beauty, as in so many realms of life, is in the eye of the beholder. What made me millions didn't excite another person enough to even open a box he'd paid $1500 for.
I doubt anyone else could fill page after legal page with info from a one hour Desoto tape. But I did. Then i studied it. then i went back to the tape again and again.
And back on Tennison's magic box, legal pads full of info.
To me this stuff was worth every dime and more. But to another, maybe a waste of time and money. And definately a waste if you're not willing to put in the time and energy to make it work. Work! That's the word here.

Mike Robertson: Former broker to the hunt brothers. Helped them corner the market in gold. Or was it silver? Now an indy who built his book by doing seminars. Very good stuff.
Ira Walker- Ira who? Try one of the biggest producers in the country. Everybody should like Ira. He borrowed 25k from his credit cards to launch himself. He used the money to hire appointment setters. As a cold caller, he opened accounts by taking no prisoners with his not to be denied siding salesman closing technique. Gee i guess cold calling does work!
Bill Tennison- Died in 2005 but his legacy lives on. Multi million dollar producer who boot strapped himself up from zero. More than once as it turned out. Cold caller extradinaire. This guy is no bullsh*t. Bill did three or four tapes for Bill at his conferences. Three were excellent, one not as good. Good stuff if one of the earlier tapes.
Lloyd Williams- Something for the managed money guys. Llyoyd's talk should inspire you to build a fee business. The tape is worth the cost just to hear his take on Alfred Cowles. Very- good stuff!!!
Bill Good- Bill has never been in our business. However, from his unique perspective he's had contact with the top in our business. He knows not only what works but why it works. He is, in his own right, a master salesman. Bill can not only lead the horse to water, he can make it drink. Most of Bill Good's talks are well worth the time and money spent.
Keep in mind that most of these CDs are from another time. IMO still pertinent info, but some may not feel so.
Have Bill send me my finders fee!
Any other names?